Krystal Jo Howard
Curriculum Vitae
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Liberal Studies
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330-8338
krystal.howard@csun.edu
www.krystalhoward.com
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
2017 – pres. Associate Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Liberal Studies, California State University, Northridge
EDUCATION
2017 PhD English Literature, Western Michigan University
Dissertation: “The Collage Effect and Participatory Reading in Contemporary Children’s and Young Adult Literature,” directed by Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox
Committee: Dr. Mike Cadden, Dr. Meghann Meeusen, Dr. Elizabeth Bradburn
2012 MFA Creative Writing: Poetry, Western Michigan University
Thesis: “Darkness Makes the House”
2008 BA English Writing, Women’s Studies, Religion, Drake University
Magna Cum Laude
FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, & HONORS
Research Fellowships, Grants, & Awards
2024 California State University, Northridge Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Award, Spring (three units reassigned time)
2023 California State University, Northridge Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Award, Spring (three units reassigned time)
2022 California State University, Northridge Probationary Faculty Support Grant, Fall (three units reassigned time)
2021 California State University, Northridge Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Award, Spring (three units reassigned time)
2021 California State University, Northridge Research Stimulus Program, Fall (three units reassigned time)
2019 California State University, Northridge College of Humanities Probationary Faculty Research Grant, Summer ($5,000)
2018 California State University, Northridge College of Humanities Faculty Fellowship Research Grant, Spring (three units reassigned time)
2016/2017 Western Michigan University Dissertation Completion Fellowship ($22,304, two semesters and two sessions tuition, full year teaching release)
2016 ChLA Graduate Student Essay Award: PhD Level Winner ($250)
2016, 2015 Western Michigan University English Department Conference Travel Grant ($500)
2014, 2013 Western Michigan University Graduate Student Travel Grant, PhD ($700)
2012 Western Michigan University Graduate Student Travel Grant, MFA ($700)
Teaching Grants & Awards
2024 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, Spring 2025 LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2023 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, Spring 2024 LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2022 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, Spring 2023 LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2021 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, Spring 2022 LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2020 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, Spring 2021 LRS 491: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2019 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Student Scholar Grant, Spring 2020 LRS 491: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($500)
2018 California State University, Northridge Community Engagement Disciplinary Grant, LRS 491: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature ($3000)
2018 California State University, Northridge TUC Learning Center Grant, LRS 300: “Reconnecting Theory and Practice for Future Teachers” ($3000)
2018 California State University, Northridge Department of English, Excellence in Teaching Award for ENGL 525COL
2012 All-University Award for Graduate Teaching Effectiveness
2012 English Department Master’s Level Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Award
2012 Norma Van Rheenen Award for Graduate Teaching Effectiveness in English Composition
RESEARCH
Publications
Refereed Articles
2022 Co-authored with Amy Fish and Carol-Ann Hoyte, “‘mouth full & dripping with language’: The 2022 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry,” The Lion and the Unicorn 46, no. 3 (2022): 315-330.
2021 Co-authored with Catherine Kyle and Rachel L. Rickard Rebellino, “‘how do I protest? / my words march across the page’: The 2021 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry,” The Lion and the Unicorn 45, no. 3 (2021): 350-364.
2020 Co-authored with Catherine Kyle and Rachel L. Rickard Rebellino, “‘For the Undefeated’: The 2020 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry,” The Lion and the Unicorn 44, no. 3 (2020): 317-332.
2020 “Black Girlhood, Representation, Place, and Relationships in Jacqueline Woodson’s Work,” Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature 58, no. 3 (2020): 3-10.
2020 “An Interview with Jacqueline Woodson: Black Childhood, Telling the Truth, and Writing as Activism,” Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature 58, no. 3 (2020): 11-17.
2019 Co-authored with Catherine Kyle and Rachel L. Rickard Rebellino, “‘Holding a Poem in the Body’: The 2019 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry,” accepted in The Lion and the Unicorn 43, no. 3
2018 “Influence Poetry and Found Poetry: The Reflection of Creative Writing Pedagogy in the Verse Novel for Young Readers,” Special Issue: The Verse Novel, The Lion and the Unicorn 42, no. 2 (2018): 218–237.
2017 “Collage, Confession, and Crisis in Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 42, no. 3 (Fall 2017): 326–44.
Refereed Book Chapters
2022 Co-author “Contemporary Children’s Poetry,” in Bloomsbury Handbook to Contemporary American Poetry, ed. Craig Svonkin and Steven Fould Axelrod (New York: Bloomsbury, 2022)
2019 “Comics Grammar in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Picture Book Collaborations,” in The Artistry of Neil Gaiman: Finding Light in the Shadows, ed. Joseph Micheal Sommers and Kyle Eveleth (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2019), 21–34.
2017 “Gothic Excess and the Body in Vera Brosgol’s Anya’s Ghost,” in Graphic Novels for Children and Young Adults: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. Michelle Ann Abate and Gwen Athene Tarbox (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2017), 247–59.
2016 “Reimagining the Cautionary Tale: Collage in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s The Wolves in the Walls,” in Critical Insights: Neil Gaiman, ed. Joseph Michael Sommers (Salem, MA: Salem Press, 2016), 81–95.
2014 Co-authored with Daniel Clark, “The American Comic Book: A Brief History,” Critical Insights: The American Comic Book, ed. Joseph Michael Sommers (Salem, MA: Salem Press, 2014), 3–20.
Forthcoming
2024 Co-authored with Amy Fish and Carol-Ann Hoyte, “‘Every cell of their bodies says Make Art’: The 2023 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry,” The Lion and the Unicorn 47, no. 3
2024 “‘Can a ghost be / in two places at once?’: Dominican (American) Girlhood in Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X and Clap When You Land,” accepted in Africana and American and Female in Young Adult Fiction, ed. Ymitri Mathison (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2024)
2024 “Graphic Girlhoods: Karen Berger and Shelly Bond’s Shaping of Minx, DC’s Imprint for Young Women,” accepted in The Comics of Karen Berger: Portrait of the Editor as an Artist, ed. Colin Beineke (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2024)
Book Reviews
2022 Review of Word Play: Experimental Poetry and Soviet Children’s Literature, Ainsley Morse, Children’s Literature 50 (2022): 301-304.
2019 Review of The Early Reader in Children’s Literature and Culture, ed. Annette Wannamaker and Jennifer Miskec, The Lion and the Unicorn
Creative Publications
2017 “The Mouth’s Stone House,” American Poetry Journal, Issue 13
2016 “The Pure Thing” & “Haunting the Meadows,” Split Lip Magazine
2016 “Self Portrait as an Abandoned House,” Red Paint Hill Poetry Journal, Issue 11
2014 “With Both Hands Bare” & “With Both Hands Bare Again,” Tupelo Quarterly, Volume 1 Issue 4
2014 “The Creature,” 5x5, Issue 2
2014 “A Curtain Is Drawn,” Barn Owl Review, Issue 7
2013 “Epithalamium for My Sister” & “A Map of Your Body,” io: A Journal of New American Poetry, Issue 11
2012 “Some Version of Paradise,” “Epithalamium,” & “The Wife’s Revolver,” Superstition Review, Issue 9
2011 “Dream of an Incomplete Body,” Quarterly West, Issue 73
2011 “Dream without Hands,” PANK, Volume 6 Issue 16
2011 “sisterbone,” Prism Review, Issue 14
2011 “Juniper Tree,” Weave Magazine, Issue 7
2009 “Two Paintings,” Periphery, Issue 46
2008 “Wednesday Night Dinners,” Periphery, Issue 45
2007 “In my room,” Periphery, Issue 44
Web-Based Publications
The Comics Alternative Podcast: A monthly podcast dedicated to reviewing recently published comics for young readers. Co-Host since October 2018.
http://comicsalternative.com/category/young-readers/
The Verse Novel Review: A blog dedicated to the evaluation, analysis, and exploration of the verse novel as a literary form for young readers. Launched in 2016, 64 reviews published to date. http://versenovelreview.blogspot.com/
Invited Talks
2018 “Form as Political Resistance: The Verse Novel and the Education of the Young Poet,” The National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Conference Participation
Roundtable Discussions
2019 “The Lion and the Unicorn Award Excellence in North American Poetry Roundtable,” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Assocation Confernece, San Diego, CA
Panels Chaired
2024 “Latinx,” Children’s Liteature Association Conference, Madison, WI
2019 “Real and Imagined Child Poet-Activists,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN
2018 “Tides of Change: Form and Identity in Contemporary Children’s and YA Diary Narratives, Comics, and Animated Films,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, San Antonio, TX
2016 “Horror in Children’s Literature: All Things Neil Gaiman,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Columbus, OH
2015 “Trauma in Children’s Literature,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Richmond, VA
2014 “A Diversity of Forms in Young Adult Literature: Exploring the Isolated Protagonist in Contemporary Verse, Film, and Fictions,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Columbia, SC
Papers Presented
2024 “Voices in Verse: The Artist’s Coming of Age in Aida Salazar’s Verse Novels,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, May 30-June 1
2021 “The Child Flâneur in Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, virtual, June 9-13
2021 “Comics@CSUN: A Faculty Community Reflects on Comics Pedagogy in the Long Crisis of 2020-2021,”Comics Studies Society Conference, virtual, July 23
2020 “Gendered Environments and the Artist’s Coming of Age in Özge Samanci’s Contemporary YA Graphic Memoir Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Bellevue, WA (cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)
2020 “Making Space for Disruption and Creation: The Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry, 2019 and Beyond,” American Literature Association Conference, San Diego, CA (cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)
2019 “Constructing the Young Poet-Activist in Margarita Engle’s Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings,” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Conference, San Diego, CA
2019 “Margarita Engle’s Poet Activists,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN
2018 “‘Do You Dare to Disappoint?’: Visual Collage and the Artist’s Coming of Age in Contemporary YA Comics,” Comics Studies Society Conference, Urbana- Champaign, IL
2018 “Collage Artifacts of Witness: Poetry and the Zine in Isabel Quintero’s Gabi, a Girl in Pieces,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, San Antonio, TX
2017 “Misfits, Celebration, & Participation: Imagined Futures through the Collaged Self in David Levithan’s Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Tampa, FL
2016 “The Verse Novel for Young Readers: Collage, Confession, and Crisis in Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming,” PhD level award winning essay, Children’s Literature Association Conference, Columbus, OH
2016 “Reimagining the Cautionary Tale: Animation Through Collage in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s The Wolves in the Walls,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Columbus, OH
2015 “Trauma, Poverty, and Punishment: British Culture and Social Change of the 1960s in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Richmond, VA
2014 “Diverse Perspectives: Exploring Lyricality and Narrativity in Virginia Euwer Wolff’s Make Lemonade and Helen Frost’s Keesha’s House,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Columbia, SC
2014 “Exploring Gothic Excess and the Body in Vera Brosgol’s Anya’s Ghost,” ComiConference 2, Mt. Pleasant, MI
2013 “Playing at the Impolite: Risky Discourse Between Girl and Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Biloxi, MS
2012 “Female Subjectivity and Power as Transformative Agents in the YA Verse Novels of Francesca Lia Block and Ellen Hopkins,” Children’s Literature Association Conference, Boston, MA
TEACHING
Associate Professor, Liberal Studies Program, California State University, Northridge, 2017 – pres.
LRS 491, Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature (Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021)
LRS 433/F, Practicum in Early Literacy (Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2024)
LRS 425MC, Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature (Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024)
LRS 300, Liberal Studies Gateway Experience (Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019)
LRS 250/F, Integrating Reason, Belief and Education and Field Study (Spring 2022, Spring 2024)
HUM 491, Collage and the Artist’s Coming of Age Narrative (Fall 2019)
ENGL 525COL, Collage and the Künstlerroman (Spring 2018)
ENGL 525YA, Young Women Writers in YA (Fall 2021)
ENGL 429, Literature for Adolescents (Fall 2018, Fall 2020, Spring 2021)
ENGL 428, Children’s Literature (Fall 2017, Spring 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2023)
ENGL 393, Junior Honors Seminar II (Spring 2020)
ENGL 333, Comics and Graphic Novels (Fall 2017, Fall 2020)
Guest Professor, California State University, Northridge
ENGL 370, Science Fiction (November 8, 2017; Octavia Butler’s Kindred)
ENGL 620EL, Louise Erdrich (November 1, 2017; Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House)
Instructor of Record, Western Michigan University, 2009 – 2016
ENGL 3840, Adolescent Literature (fall 2013)
ENGL 3830, Literature for the Intermediate Reader (spring 2016, fall 2015, spring 2015, fall 2014, fall 2012, fall 2011)
ENGL 3820, Literature for the Young Child (spring 2014, spring 2013)
ENGL 1050, Thought and Writing (9 sections; spring 2012, fall 2011, spring 2011, fall 2010, spring 2010, fall 2009)
Guest Professor, Western Michigan University
ENGL 3840, Adolescent Literature (December 6, 2016; Patricia McCormick’s Sold)
ENGL 3830, Literature for the Intermediate Reader (December 6, 2016; Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again)
Teaching Assistant, Western Michigan University, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Summer 2016, Fall 2016
ENGL 5970, Introduction to Comics Studies with Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox (fall 2016)
ENGL 5830, Multicultural Adolescent Literature (online) with Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox (summer 2016)
ENGL 3840, Adolescent Literature (large lecture) with Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox (fall 2012)
ENGL 3820, Literature for the Young Child with Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox (spring 2011)
Research Assistant with Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox, Western Michigan University, Summer 2011
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Service to the Profession
2022 – pres. Children’s Litrature Association, Nominations and Elections Committee
2020 – 2022 Children’s Literature Association, Membership Committee
2019 Rutgers University Press, book manuscript referee
2018 – pres. Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, referee
2017 – pres. The Lion and the Unicorn, referee
2016 – pres. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, referee
2015 – pres. Children’s Literature in Education, referee
2015 – 2018 Children’s Literature Association, new member mentor
2018 Children’s Literature Association, syllabus swap discussion leader (topic: teaching with tumblr)
2017 Children’s Literature Association, conference discussion leader (topic: job market and interview preparation)
Service to the Community
2024 – pres. Service Learning Partnership, LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature, St John Baptist de la Salle Catholic School, Granada Hills, CA (spring)
2020 – pres. Service Learning Partnership, LRS 433/F: Practicum in Early Literacy, CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School, Woodland Hills, CA (fall)
2018 – 2023 Service Learning Partnership, LRS 491/LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature, Guardian Angel Catholic School, Pacoima, CA (spring)
2020 CSUN Comics Event, “March: A Virtual Comics Studies Teach-In,” panelist, hosted by Dr. Charles Hatfield, with Dr. Tomo Hattori, Dr. Quiana Whitted, and Dr. Jorge Santos, https://vimeo.com/483349183
2019 Service Learning Partnership, LRS 300: Liberal Studies Gateway Experience, Multicultural Learning Center, Canoga Park, CA (spring)
2018 Service Learning Partnership, LRS 300: Liberal Studies Gateway Experience, Plummer Elementary School, North Hills, CA (fall)
2018 – pres. Service Learning Partnership, LRS 491: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature, Guardian Angel Catholic School, Pacoima, CA (spring)
2018 National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature Podcast, “Interview ft. Dr. Krystal Howard and NCSCL Director Dr. Joseph T. Thomas Jr.,” https://sdsuchildlit.blogspot.com/2018/06/pilot-podcast-interview-ft-dr-krystal.html
2017 Comics Alternative Podcast, “Young Readers: A Roundtable Discussion on Contemporary Issues in Children’s and Young Adult Comics,” guest with Dr. Charles Hatfield, http://comicsalternative.com/young-readers-a-roundtable-discussion-on-contemporary-issues-in-childrens-and-young-adult-comics/
Service to the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies and English
2022 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Awards, Scholarships, and Special Events Committee, member
2020 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Literacy Scholars for the Future of Los Angeles Committee, chair
2018 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Childhood Studies Committee, chair
2018 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Annual Awards Ceremony
2021 – 2022 Liberal Studies, Associate Chair
2020 – 2021 Liberal Studies, Associate Director
2020 – 2022 Liberal Studies, Equity and Diversity Representative
2020 – 2022 Liberal Studies, Awards, Scholarships, and Special Events Committee, chair
2020 – 2022 Liberal Studies, Chair’s Staff/Advisor Committee, member
2019 Liberal Studies, Emergency Hiring Committee, member
2017 – 2020 Liberal Studies, Subject Matter Competency for Future Teachers Committee, member
2017 – 2018 Liberal Studies, Childhood Studies Committee, member
2018 – 2020 English, FYI/JYI Teaching Credential Program Advisor
2017– 2021 English, Subject Matter Committee, member
2018 – 2021 English, FYI/JYI and ESM Exit Interviews
Service to the College
2019 – pres. College of Humanities, Center for Public Humanities, advisory board member and affiliated faculty
2021 – 2022 College of Humanities, Academic Programming Fund Selection Committee
2020 College of Humanities, HSI Pathways to the Professoriate Cross-Institutional Conference, Newark, NJ
2019 College of Humanities, HSI Pathways to the Professoriate Cross-Institutional Conference, Philadelphia, PA
2018 – 2021 College of Humanities, HSI Pathways to the Professoriate/Mellon Faculty Mentor
2018 College of Humanities, Faculty Fellowship and Grants Committee (spring)
2017 – 2022 College of Humanities, Welcome Back Celebration
Service to the University
2022 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, International Education Council (IEC) Department Liaison
2021 – pres. California State University Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) Faculty Mentor
2020 – 2022 Presidential Advisory Committee for Community Engagement (PACCE)
2019 – pres. Master of Arts in Humanities, Tseng College, Faculty
2017 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies Committee (IDC)
2017 – pres. Interdisciplinary Studies & Liberal Studies, Integrated Teacher Education Program Committee (ITEP)
2021 – 2022 Elementary Teacher Education Subject Matter Transfer Model Curriculum Alignment Taskforce, Liberal Studies Programs/Departments California State University
2020 – 2022 Faculty Senator
2020 – 2022 Liberal Studies, Integrated Teacher Education Program Committee (ITEP), chair
2020 – 2021 Liberal Studies, Academic Assessment Liaison Committee
2019 Liberal Studies, College of Humanities, Commencement Platform Party
2018 Liberal Studies, College of Humanities, Commencement Marshal
Editorial Experience
2023 – pres. Associate Editor
Children’s Literature Association Quarterly
2021 – 2022 Editor
Special Issue “Youth Poets in Children’s Literature, Media, and Performance”
Children’s Literature Asssociation Quarterly, Johns Hopkins University Press
2019 – pres. Poetry Award Editor
The Lion and the Unicorn, Johns Hopkins University Press
2018 – 2019 Associate Poetry Award Editor
The Lion and the Unicorn, Johns Hopkins University Press
2011 – 2017 Production Editor, Comparative Drama, Kalamazoo, MI
2009 – 2013 Third Coast, Kalamazoo, MI
Poetry Editor, 2011 – 2013
Managing Editor, 2010 – 2011
Editorial Assistant in Poetry, 2009 – 2011
2011 New Issues Press, Kalamazoo, MI
Editorial Assistant for the New Issues Poetry Prize: First Book
TEACHING AREAS
Children’s Literature
Adolescent Literature
Liberal Studies/Teacher Preparation
Multicultural Children’s and Adolescent Literature
Comics Studies
Contemporay American Poetry
The Coming of Age Narrative
Literary Theory
British Romanticism
English Composition
LANGUAGES
French, translation proficiency with a dictionary
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2018 – pres. Comics Studies Society
2012 – pres. Children’s Literature Association
2008 – pres. Association of Writers and Writing Programs
Howard